Axe wants retribution on guns in 2014

4/17/13 10:55 AM EDT

With an amendment to expand background checks for gun buyers poised to be filibustered by Republicans, Axelrod is looking for gun-control advocates like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to stick with the cause and seek retribution through the mid-term elections.

"A bunch of suburban, swing district Republicans in House are probably deeply relieved that Senate appears poised to kill background checks," he tweets. "Interested to see if Bloomberg and others who've worked hard on this issue remain active in 2014 elections, holding no votes accountable."

One of the authors of the amendment, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), told a reporter Wednesday that it doesn't have the 60 votes it needs to overcome a filibuster, although his communications director, Jonathan Kott, issued a statement earlier saying he was still "optimistic" and would work until the last minute to secure votes.

But even Vice President Joe Biden, who has been working the phones and making speeches pushing the measure, signaled Tuesday night that it would fail and that he had hoped the public's support for the measure would have swayed lawmakers. Axelrod hinted that so far, the public support reflected in polls has not been enough.

"90% or not, until Congress feels a backlash from voters for opposing common sense laws like background checks, they won't cross gun lobby," he tweeted.